TUAW

Sad news in the Apple publishing community today. Word on the street is that AOL, amid a new round of lay-offs, is going to shut down TUAW, one of the longest-standing publications and among the most successful blogs in the Weblogs, Inc. portfolio.

TUAW, which derived its name from the acronym for The Unofficial Apple Weblog, was founded in 2004 to cover tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.

According to TechCrunch, AOL will be folding both TUAW and Jostiq, a video gaming blog founded in 2004, into Engadget, another high-profile publication it acquired as part of the 2005 purchase of Weblogs, Inc. and its network of about 90 blogs.

In case you thought computer hacking died with mid-1990’s thrillers like The Net or Hackers, think again. It seems like we’ve seen an uprise of digital deviants over the last few months.

They’ve taken down Sony’s PSN network, stolen mounds of credit card information, and even infiltrated Arizona’s government network. According to the infamous hacking group known as “Anonymous,” their latest corporate target is Apple…

I remember hearing not too long ago that iPhone maker Foxconn was bragging up their ability to pump out 1.5 new iPhones per second. While we knew that meant lousy surroundings for those employed there at least the demand was surely being met, right? TUAW has a report that highlights Apple’s inability to meet the pre-order demand from the Taiwanese people. Over 200,000 people tried grabbing the new iPhone 4 through pre-order but carriers fear just 1/4 of those will be filled by the years end. That could mean for a lot of angry early adopters…

As we reported last week Apple unveiled a special section in the App Store that features entries compatible with Game Center. This new iOS 4.1 feature is a social gaming network that allows you to compete against as many friends as you can convince to accept your requests. Apparently that isn’t the case if your friend tally goes beyond 500. TiPb has a story about an employee running into issues once their friend counter gets to 500. Beyond that it appears that once you delete a friend and you’re at 499 another request is then allowed through which bumps your tally to the seemingly restricted 500…

That didn’t take along, did it? Yesterday we reported that Apple announced they were loosening the reins on the guidelines and restrictions as it relates to the App Store. The thought in our minds and apparently the mind of Adobe as well was “what does this mean for Flash and the iPhone?”

Don’t believe it will happen as fast as it’s being reported? TUAW has Adobe saying the following regarding Apple’s new attitude:

On launch day of the iPhone 4 I was 26th in line at the Mall of America. I arrived at 2 in the morning and by the time Apple opened their doors there were easily over 300 people waiting behind me. I know that everyone in line that day didn’t go home with the new iPhone. It was blissfully maddening.

The latest shortage reports are coming out of Australia where TUAW shows the country’s carriers are feeling the heat from a high demand, low supply market. With cell carriers down under getting new shipments each week, and the Apple stores in the US each day, I feel like the company purposely shorthands their retailers and inadvertently causes chaos…

There were certainly no shortage of complaints when the iPhone 4 was released, or perhaps there was no shortage of coverage relating to every issue users experienced. Whatever perspective you take there was an issue that didn’t receive much attention compared to the rest. There seemed to be a couple problems relating discoloring of photos in certain light. TUAW reported on it briefly while forums seem to run wild with complaints. This wasn’t the only complaint regarding the camera as Apple’s discussion board showed us. Other users seemed to be getting a green blob appearing in their photos with the intensity of the discrepancy occurring while indoors with florescent style lighting.

TUAW recently unveiled a product design by Griffin that could change the way you think about gaming on the iPhone or iPad. The FCC has released the exciting filing that would allow up to 4 people to simultaneously play in an individual setting. Sounds cool, right? Griffin will send 4 games along with the PartyDock that will will include party, family and casual styles of entertainment. The games will be available in the App Store and would be designed to be ran specifically with aforementioned platform. Head over to the product site for additional info including development.

TUAW pointed out today that 2 pretty big games are on sale in the App Store today.

Cro-Mag Rally Pangea has dropped the price on its premiere racing game down to just $1.99. This sale is for a limited time, and while it affects the other Pangea titles as well, Cro-Mag offers the best deal of the bunch.

Poptiq Poptiq delivers personalized video streams to your iPhone or iPod touch. Over time, it customizes itself to your likes and dislikes, so you don’t have to wade through videos that aren’t to your taste. You can download a free copy of Poptiq until September 25.